Sébastien Van Malleghem (b. 1986, Belgium) studied photography in Brussels from 2006 to 2009. For four years he followed police officers and their interaction with the public in Belgium. Sébastien went to Libya in 2012 to cover the ruins of power after the death of Gaddafi. His work has been published in The New York Time Lens Blog, La letter de la Photographie Le Soir (be), Le Vif l’express (be) among others. His first monograph POLICE was published in Yellow Now Edition. Sébastien won the Foto Folio Review Award in Les Rencontres d’Arles , the Young Talent Artist Prize at the Belgium National Collection RTBF/ Canvas Collectie awards and the third prize at the European Month of Photography in Berlin.

About the Photograph:

“This photo was taken in one of the largest prisons for mentally ill criminals. The two prisoners in the courtyard of the prison are on their way to work duty. It reminded me of a prison camp during World War II. The prison administers psychiatric help to the inmates but most of their illnesses are not curable. Most of them don’t know when they will be released. They receive medication three times a day to calm down. The prison guards are kind with the inmates and most of the time have a friendly relationship with them but because of their illness they can suddenly change and become really aggressive and dangerous. In general there is a good atmosphere inside of the prison but also something really sad. There are only a few people outside who want to understand them because of their incarceration. This photo is part of a series I’m currently working on about the idea of justice in Belgium and in Europe.”

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Thomas Vanden Driessche (b.1979, Belgium) received his master’s degree in journalism and has been working for the United Nations Development program in Morocco and the Belgium Red Cross. His work has been published in Juliette & Victor, Le Soir, Le Nouvel Observateur, The Guardian and Monocle. Thomas joined Out Of Focus collective in February 2011 and is a nominee photographer in the french photo agency Picturetank. Rewarded with a ‘Parole Photographique’ prize in 2009 and five PX3 awards in 2010-2011, and a ‘coup de coeur de l’ANI’ during the festival Visa pour l’image. His work has recently been exhibited n Paris (MK2 Library, Gare de l’Est, Galerie Dupon, Festival Circulations), in Lille (Transphotographiques 2011), in London (Foto 8 summer show) and in Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts, The Egg).

About the Photograph:

“This picture of a local family during the Halloween celebration is part of a larger project called Strangely Dampremy that started in 2011 and is still in progress. Dampremy is a small Belgian town nestled between three waste mine tips, a weird graveyard and a recently closed steel plant. Dampremy is a small town that looks like a movie set. It’s an economic tragedy, a place that’s rapidly declined during the past few decades. In a single image you can feel the poverty, the surrealism and the fight for dignity there. The fact that I’m working with an old and heavy Mamiya RB67 slows down the process of making a photograph. It stops reality and allows me to think in a more formal and universal dimension.”

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Laure Geerts (b.1978, Belgium) studied business and marketing until she discovered photography in 2006. This revelation allowed her to discover places and people she would otherwise never have experienced. In 2008 she formed Collectif Caravane with five other photographers. Her work has been published in View Photography magazine, Focus Vif and exhibited at BIP 2010 OFF (Liège ,Belgium) and at the Centre d’Art Graphique ‘La Métairie Bruyère’, Auxerres in France. She won the “Coup de coeur” from ANI (Association Nationale des Iconographes) in Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan, France in 2009. Laure is currently based in Brussels.

About the Photograph:

“This photo is from my project Out of Wallonia. Each year, in mid-August, the small village of Haccourt in Wallonia prepares its annual folklore. You can see Belgium and blue flags on the windows. The women wear long and colorful dresses and the men put on smoking jackets. In the afternoon they cross the village with a marching band and the flag representing their team. In this photograph, three musicians from one of the bands are resting during a stop in a garden. At the falling night, the blue team defies the reds in the center of the village. The tension goes up. The trumpet players blow with of all their force and the bass drum resounds. The notes mix and the Farandoles cross.”

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Isabelle Pateer (b.1980, The Netherlands) graduated in 2003 from the Institute for Higher Education of the Visual Arts Sint Lukas in Brussels, Belgium. For her “Unsettled” project she was nominated for the Prix Arts Libre (2010), received second prize at the International Festival of Photography in Bratislava (2009) as well as being awarded best portfolio during the Photo Espana Masterclass (2009). Her series ‘Room 261012’ received the second prize at the Belgium Dexia Award (2008) and her series ‘Artists’ received an honorable mention at IPA (2008). Her work has been exhibited in several exhibitions and photography festivals in The Netherlands, France and Belgium and published in different international magazines including: VIEW, La Libre Belgique, Foto Museum Extra, Globe Reports and Janus.

About the Photograph:

“This portrait is one of the first images I took for the ongoing series “Unsettled”. It focuses in a metaphoric way on the idea of “progress” in a case where a historical place must disappear because of industrial purposes. The Belgium village Doel is threatened by vast expansions of the Antwerp port which creates an artificial contrast between nature and culture. My work focuses on the young inhabitants alternated by landscapes which bare witness to the transformed state of the area. Leaving a sourish taste by contrasting the young with the local changes, they symbolise the international tendency of global political and economic shifts and the way they manifest themselves to the people and their surroundings.”

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Kris Pannecoucke (b. 1969, Kinshasa) is a Belgian freelance photographer who grew up partially in Congo and is now based in Antwerp where he also previously studied photography. He currently works for editorial and commercial clients including the dutch version of National Geographic Magazine & Unicef. Kris is especially interested in religious themes and the reasons in which people search and find faith for what to believe in. He has received Grants to work on stories like ‘Remittances’ (how do people in Africa spend money from family members who are foreign workers in Europe) and ‘self censorship’ on Spain’s centuries old tradition of Moros y Cristianos who caused a stir among the Muslim community.

About the Photograph:

“I made this picture for a story in the Dutch National Geographic about immigration leading to importation of new religions. In some European countries churches are empty. Secularization took place but thanks to immigration ‘God is back’ (title of the story). The essay was a broad look on immigrants of very different origin and how they experience their believe in a country where Santeria, Candomblé or Jainism were unheared of 20 years ago. In the picture Priest Jean-Jacques Omba from Congo is blessing a new member of his church before she will be baptised in the North-Sea in Ostende, Belgium.”

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About...

Photographer and photo editor Geoffrey Hiller has created Verve Photo to feature photographs and interviews by the finest contemporary image makers today. Verve Photo is a reminder of the power of the still image. Verve Photo will also point you to new photo agencies, publications, and inspiring multimedia projects.